Santa Barbara sheriff’s deputies arrest looters while providing aid in Tahoe area

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. -- Santa Barbara County sheriff's deputies arrested two looters during the evacuation of South Lake Tahoe on Wednesday.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff's deputies are aiding El Dorado County Sheriff's deputies and South Lake Tahoe Police officers as they evacuate residents of the South Lake Tahoe area due to the Caldor Fire inching in.

On Wednesday, Santa Barbara County Sheriff's were on security detail in the area of Spruce Avenue and Heather Lake Avenue when they saw a man near a house.

Deputies attempted to make contact with the man but he then got into a car and tried to leave.

The deputies pulled the car over and made contact with the suspect.

In their investigation, they found that the suspect had been looting in the area.

They identified him as a 28-year-old South Lake Tahoe man and arrested him for looting, possession of drug paraphernalia, failure to leave an evacuation zone, altering replica firearm to resemble a real firearm and false registration.

Deputies also recovered several items suspected to have been stolen.

Moments later, Santa Barbara County Sheriff's deputies found another man in the backyard of a home on Herbert Avenue.

That suspect was also arrested for looting, burglary, possession of burglary tools and failure to leave an evacuation zone.